Personal Business; How to Regain a Mouthful of Luster, for a Price

By ANDREA HIGBIE

Published: July 8, 2001

TEDDI-ANNE KOSTKOWICZ, a sales assistant at an investment banking firm in Manhattan, used to hate smiling for photographs, and she says she sometimes felt very self-conscious when she met with new clients.

''My teeth looked dingy and dirty,'' said Ms. Kostkowicz, 33, a former smoker from Queens who acknowledges enjoying coffee in the morning and a glass of red wine or two at dinner. ''I had been walking around so miserable about my teeth.''

Last weekend, she bought herself a whiter, brighter smile at a Midtown teeth-whitening center, one of several that have popped up around the country. Ms. Kostkowicz says she paid $525 -- a discount from the usual $600 fee -- at the center, called BriteSmile, and she has been ''skipping since I left there.''

''It's a big difference,'' said Ms. Kostkowicz, who works at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. ''My teeth are beautiful. In these few hours since I left the office, I have been given a new confidence. I feel as if I'm floating. I'm going to smile in pictures for the first time since I was a teenager.''

More people are entering the world of teeth-brightening -- whether through their dentists' offices, grocery-store toothpaste and whitening strips or, in the newest trend, walk-in teeth-brightening centers like the one Ms. Kostkowicz tried. Some are professionals looking to improve their self-confidence. Many are aging baby boomers in search of yet another way to recapture the youthful appearance they had before years of smoking and drinking coffee, tea or red wine, not to mention their lack of flossing, darkened their pearly whites.

Whoever the clients, this 21st-century version of the mid-1980's tanning salon is growing faster than a set of adult teeth on an 8-year-old, with equal ranks of men and women as customers.

Like most other body-consciousness trends, teeth-whitening began on the West Coast -- with movie stars, naturally. The big screen, magnifying every pore and every flaw, shows teeth the size of washing machines, depending on the screen size at your multiplex. Once the common folk started noticing those wonderful teeth, which are now so widely and relatively cheaply available through the miracles of science and marketing, many of them realized that while they could not be Julia Roberts, they could have teeth as white as hers.

Teeth-whitening is certainly cheaper and more accessible than the old alternatives of caps, laminates and bonding, which adhere to imperfect teeth or replace them. (And when it comes to emulating movie stars, whitening your teeth is a lot cheaper, much less painful and much faster than plastic surgery.)

But consumers may want to shop around before opening their wallets and their mouths. For starters, they should consider consulting with their dentists to see if they are even candidates for teeth-whitening. Dentists typically discourage patients from undergoing any whitening procedures if they have severe gum disease or bleeding, cracks or cavities in their teeth or if they are pregnant or nursing. The American Dental Association Web site (www.ada.org) lists teeth-whitening and bleaching products, both professional and consumer, that have received its seal of acceptance, which means that they are considered safe and efficient after, on average, two to six months of independent testing.

Among the most popular is the BriteSmile system, which was developed by John Warner, a former NASA scientist, and is administered by about 3,000 independent dentists nationwide and in 14 company-owned centers in 12 cities. It uses a chemical gel that is activated by a special light and costs around $600 for an hourlong treatment. The company says it expects to perform 180,000 procedures this year, up from 10,400 in 1999, the year it opened. (You can even buy gift certificates for friends and family.)

Of course, results vary as well. ''Some products work better than others,'' said Dr. Daniel M. Meyer, director of science for the A.D.A. He said, for example, that teeth stained by the antibiotic tetracycline may not respond well to many teeth-whitening applications. ''Crowns that have been fabricated cannot be lightened; filling material won't lighten,'' he added.

Even Michael Whan, president for worldwide marketing at BriteSmile, which is based in Walnut Creek, Calif., cautioned that customers' expectations should not be too high. ''All we are doing is eliminating stain,'' Mr. Whan said. ''Your teeth are just going back to where they naturally were.''

For the average customer, he said, that usually means eight shades of improvement, based on a 16-shade guide used by the dental industry. ''We can't really pick out a particular shade and say, 'We'll be there.' ''

He also warned that about 8 percent of patients might experience some form of side effect, usually a dull ache that generally goes away after 24 hours.

Dr. Carmen Schuller, a dentist on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, says she uses NiteWhite, which is made of bleaching agents, because ''it's less harsh and more effective'' than other products. (The patient uses it for 7 to 10 days; there is maintenance every few years, she said.)

Ms. Kostkowicz reported a bit of tooth sensitivity after her BriteSmile treatment, but said she did not mind; she was also not bothered by the 24-hour prohibition on coffee and red wine. ''I'd do it again,'' she said.

So would another teeth-whitening client, a man in his late 40's who recently spent three hours and $1,500 on laser treatment at his Manhattan dentist's office. ''It really hurt,'' said the man, who works in the television industry and spoke on the condition of anonymity. ''I had shooting pains, and my teeth were really sensitive after the treatment.''

But he, too, said that his discomfort was well worth it and that he would do it again in an instant. Chances are he will eventually have to do it again. And to maintain his glow, he must fill teeth trays with bleaching gel and place them in his mouth for several hours at a time when his chompers start to look a little worse for wear.

Others who undergo teeth-whitening procedures will have to do the same, since most procedures begin to fade after a year or two.

''It's not going to last forever,'' said Dr. Edward J. Littman, a dentist in Livingston, N.J., who uses a variety of teeth-whitening products on his patients. ''It will not last without reinforcements.''

Photos: Teddi-Anne Kostkowicz, who had her teeth whitened, says she is smiling for photographs for the first time in years.; Growing numbers of people are seeking treatment at teeth-whitening centers. At a BriteSmile site in Manhattan, Dr. Radford Goto, above, applied a chemical gel to the teeth of a patient. The gel is activated by a special light, left. The whole treatment takes about an hour. (Photographs by Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times)